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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579413">We Know Exolution</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalcifer/pseuds/Kalcifer'>Kalcifer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Friends at the Table (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - We Know the Devil, Body Horror, F/F, Interactive Fiction, Magical Realism, Multi, Other, Symbolism everywhere, you get to choose which ship you're most interested in</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:53:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalcifer/pseuds/Kalcifer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>WE KNOW EXOLUTION is an interactive novel about the Beloved Dust investigating yet another weird haunted Mesh location. Follow Tender, Fourteen, and Signet as they work together to solve the mystery - but one always gets left out</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fourteen Fifteen/Tender Sky, Fourteen Fifteen/⸢Signet⸣, Fourteen Fifteen/⸢Signet⸣/Tender Sky, ⸢Signet⸣/Tender Sky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We Know Exolution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Is there anything better than mashing together two extremely niche media? Play the full game at <a href="https://beloveddust.space">beloveddust.space</a>, or scroll down for a preview of the first choice.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>We’re all on the same shuttle, heading to the Beloved’s ship to get our next assignment. This happens less often than you might think. We’re all busy people, and we can be anywhere in the fleet when the signal goes out. Arriving at a meeting is always a balancing act of not making anyone else wait too long but also not having to sit in awkward silence in the meeting room. Predictably, we all have different opinions on how to balance those things, so even if we start from more or less the same place we’re unlikely to get here at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today, though, the stars have aligned to put us all on the same shuttle, giving us a few minutes to gossip before we start doing our actual job. We’ll probably still gossip as we’re doing it, but this way there’s no pretense of professionality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This body suits you, Fourteen,” Signet says. “I wish I had known that was you before. I would have come to see you perform.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Signet’s the closest any of us can come to professional, and mostly even manages it. Maybe it comes with the territory once you get to be 200, or maybe they teach it in Excerpt school. We’re pretty sure it’s just Signet, though. We can’t imagine her less than polite or less than distant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pulse of color rolls down Fourteen’s dress, virtual flowers bursting into existence and withering in an instant, but Tender is the one who responds first. “I know,” she says. “I had to wait forever before they even told me they weren’t dead.” She adjusts her hat, a slick trilby that’s sliding forward to cover her eyes. “You’ve got to get better at that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll try, but I have obligations of my own, you know.” They turn to Signet. “I’ll send you tickets to my next show, once we’re finished here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>We’re never sure how much to expect Fourteen to change from body to body. So far, they’ve always been thoughtful and determined and a little soft-spoken, but we have no way of knowing whether that’s them or a string of flukes. Or if they’ll suddenly lose a memory and forget to be one of those things. All we can do is take them body by body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Signet curls a lock of hair around her finger. “I’ll look forward to it. Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tender turns to Fourteen with big, pleading eyes. Fourteen huffs a laugh. “You’ve been to plenty of my shows already. If you want to see another, you can buy a ticket for yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tender pouts. We can all tell it’s just for show and she knows we know. She does it anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tender likes to act demanding and self-centered, but she’s too concerned with finding ways to help people for any of us to believe it. She has to be a little self-centered to keep the act going, though, right? Either way, we’re not going to call her on it. There’s something reassuring about having someone with such a concrete motivation on our side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Signet looks like she’s going to ask something else, probably a polite attempt to keep the conversation going, but then the shuttle begins to slow. Tender stands. “Let’s go see what Cascara’s got for us this time. It can’t be weirder than the last one, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fourteen hums thoughtfully. It’s a pure note, musical despite its simplicity. “I certainly hope not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can handle it.” Signet holds the shuttle door for us. Tender is the first one out, with Fourteen close behind and Signet following at a respectable distance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cascara is already in the briefing room, looking at a projection that might be a person and might be a tree, except that it shifts in ways that people and trees don’t. A branch turns on its side to become an arm; a hip juts out into a spray of leaves. We can’t stare at it for long without feeling dizzy and disoriented.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?” Fourteen asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cascara sighs. “What a good question. According to its coordinates, it’s the Gallery of Exolution.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That… isn’t what it looked like last time I was there,” Signet says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d hope not,” Fourteen mutters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cascara pulls her commander voice back on, ready to send us boldly forward into this week’s weird bullshit. “According to residents of the area, this happened a few hours ago. The Gallery was empty at the time. No one will give me a clear answer as to why. Anyone who tries to go in now turns around halfway up the steps. They don’t seem to be afraid of anything, just a little distressed, and that hasn’t stopped a few of them from trying more than once.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So it can’t be that bad, right?” Tender looks to us like she’s both trying to reassure us and wanting to be reassured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Signet nods unconvincingly. “Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t underestimate the things people will do if they think they can get some sort of advantage from it. Given the current state of the Fleet, weird things happening in a Divine’s sanctuary might particularly appeal to the more desperate among us.” Cascara shakes her head. “I really don’t know about this one. I’m hoping you can clean it up before someone gets themself hurt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re on it,” Fourteen says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we’ve got this. There’s no one better at dealing with spooky Divine things than us.” Tender gives a finger gun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I sincerely hope we never have to test that,” Cascara says. “As always, all our resources are at your disposal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cascara never actually dismisses us, she just says things like that until we take the hint and leave. Sure, we probably could take her up on the resources thing, but since none of us know what we’re dealing with, it’s easier to go with the kits we’re used to. We’ll keep telling ourselves that right up until it screws us over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>We reconvene in the sitting room, where we can strategize without seeing that face Cascara makes when she hears about some of our plans. You’d think by now she’d trust us to get the job done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tender throws herself on the couch with the unconscious drama that characterizes her life. “Should we assume this is going to be like Contrition’s Figure? Because the last thing I want is to deal with more weird clouds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know.” Signet sits beside her in a motion less emphatic but no less dramatic, if only for the way she has to manage her skirt the whole time. “If there are more clouds out there, they’ve missed out on getting access to a Divine, so I don’t see much point in making a scene like this. Besides, manifesting its gallery as some sort of plant monster seems like the sort of thing Exolution would do, if it had infinite free time or didn’t care about people.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you suggesting that it’s a ghost? Because that might actually be worse than the cloud.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what it is. All I’m saying is that there may be a reason it chose the gallery.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I may know someone who can help us understand all this,” Fourteen breaks in. They stay standing, back straight, hands clasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>We turn to them in unison. “You know someone who might know why a building came to life?” Tender asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t say that,” Fourteen says. “I think they may have information that could prove useful to us. You’re welcome to come with me, if you’re curious.”</span>
</p>
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